The loss of pressure
by SkoRn3d
Summary: He'd never known it was there. There to be tasted, and touched. He couldn't imagine the consequences of one simple 'operation' Rated M for launguage at first - then maybe something else kukuku. I suck at summaries. Sorry.


**Hey! Well, this is my first Ichiruki that I'm busting out and I've just got a few warnings that need to be stated. As said before, there will be some cencored language usage here, but nothing that isn't heard almost everyday - still though.  
2nd is that, if you like Inoue in any way shape or form, then I don't suggest you get too much into this fic. Cause there will be -at some point- shameless Inoue-bashing. I hate the bitch and shall endevour to get _you _to see her as I do. I'm not too sure that I have a third warning but - just for S&G this won't just be an Ichiruki fic. There will be other pairings in this. I might put up a poll later on to see who gets to shack up with Ishida lol.  
Well only one thing left to do really ...**

**Disclaimer: I do hereby denounce any onwership of the anime 'Bleach' I can't memba the name of the owner, but it belongs to them. The only thing that I lay claim to are the random and -at times- fucked up words that follow ... **

**Well, you've been warned, I spose. You might wanna get to readin' now ne?  
Enjoy!!**

He never thought Rukia would be the one to do _this_ to him. She was always the anchor of their relationship - such as it was; the one thing that kept him level-headed. But now … he couldn't move. Something was wrong, he couldn't breathe anymore. She consumed every part of him and cast his being into chaos. He would sweat when the sun wasn't even out, blush when _nothing _was said or done to embarrass him, and he'd _look_ - every part of her permanently committed to memory; he'd known her from the moment she'd entered his life. Remembered the way she moved and spoke -it was in his best interest to do so. He quivered at the touch of her hand and indeed the strength of her fist.  
These things were still there but, changed. Intensified somehow.

He didn't like it.

Ichigo stood outside of her closet door, '_her _closet? … when the hell had something in _his_ room become _hers_?!'  
She'd been tucked in there since yesterday morning. Something about him being an idiot and needing space away from him. Now all he could think about was moving her out completely. It pissed him off royally that he couldn't look at her without some kind of strange weird thing happening to him. Like his gut churning all whirlpool-like, or that stupid fucken migraine that kept coming and going with _her_ presence. It didn't hurt him particularly that she didn't notice him in the way he noticed her, 'cause that's all it is, _notice_, there's _nothing else_ there.' But he wanted her gone; away from him for the day at least, just one day of solitude … one day of quiet.  
Then it came to him … _he'd_ leave. He'd get out of this damn family-filled house and just _get away._

!FUCK!

When Rukia rolled out of her bed a full day and a half after she'd climbed in, she automatically thought that Ichigo would be there to greet her … it was the norm; he was always there, either with breakfast or some smart-arse comment about her needing to shower. Or maybe how she should brush her teeth before breathing.  
But he wasn't there, '_hmmm, he must be in the bathroom_,' she thought to herself.  
"Ichigo? Are you decent?" she asked as she poked her head around Ichigo's bathroom door, eyes shut firm, waiting for a response. A hand on her face pushing her out of the room at the very least. When she was met with silence, she nervously peeled an eyelid open … "well, you're not in here are you?" she asked her absent friend.

Checking the calendar over Ichigo's desk-top computer, Rukia made sure it was the weekend and tried to remember if he'd told her of some alternate plans that he'd made … if he had mentioned his going somewhere, doing something that did not require her presence.

Rukia felt something akin to sadness as the thought occurred to her. Then a pang of fright as another reared it ugly head. _She didn't know where her friend was._ She had no idea where he could've gone and she couldn't for the life of her even _faintly_ feel his reiatsu. It was fair to say that Kuchiki Rukia was worried … and she detested the Rukia didn't feel safe in this strange house, without Ichigo there to tell her it was clear to go downstairs -her roommates bedroom window completely forgotten.

She'd had this feeling before now, when she was alone somewhere in town, when he was away from her and she had hated it _then_ too; helplessness was _not_ a feeling Rukia particularly enjoyed. But that's exactly how she felt now; she could move no farther than Ichigo's' bed, too frightened to venture anywhere near the actual door in case someone heard her shuffling around the room she wasn't meant to be in and came to investigate.

!WHY!

Kurosaki Isshin watched as his only son took to the dark, early-morning streets of Karakura; he wasn't worried, Ichigo could look after himself, but he was a little disappointed. That boy would never muster up the courage to face his fears. And despite comments to the contrary, Isshin knew his son better than anyone _thought_ they did. Better even that the little Shinigami living in his sons closet … and though Isshin knew his son's strength and endurance was a great testament to his character, he also knew that his son still had a hard time -to put it _extremely_ lightly- expressing anything remotely emotional.

Later Isshin would wander if that was why he'd made such a _loud_ fuss of getting the girls out of the house for the weekend. Hours after Ichigo's departure Isshin felt the little dark-haired girl wake up and walk around his son's en-suit, he'd then made a point of getting the twins out of their beds, much to Karin's annoyance, and out of the house for the whole two days. His excuse? "Daddy and ni-san need some _man_ time together!" It was proclaimed in such a way that Karin and Yuzu didn't even bother to argue. Their father was an idiot as far as they were concerned. And nothing could really be done about it.

With the twins gone and an obvious glint in his eye he made an even bigger fuss a few minutes later, attempting to tell the small woman upstairs that he was leaving the house and probably wouldn't be back till late the next night.  
'_Hmm, this should given them _plenty_ of time to get things sorted_,' Isshin hoped as he exited his house for God-knows-where.

_touché _

It was still dark out; Ichigo had been gone for three hours now and it was _still_ dark out. He hadn't really noticed the time when he took off but it must've been _damn_ early.  
He checked his watch, made sure he had his wallet and that everything was in there before finally setting out on Operation: "Road-trip away from Rukia"

He knew he needed this, he needed to get away from her. Just one day to think. About what he had _no_ clue. But think he would, and dammit it would do him some good! Even if he had to force himself.

He was driving … had been driving for a day now. He'd stopped for a quick sleep at some random motel along the side of the road. Ichigo hadn't intended to stay away for so long but once he'd rented the car and started driving, he didn't want to stop. Didn't want to go home and face the bomb that would be Rukia's frustrated rage. She'd called him already, twice now and he hadn't answered -hardest thing he'd done yet.-

"Stupid midget." he sighed. She always seemed to do important things _right_ at the wrong time. Yes, they needed to talk; yes, Ichigo wanted to hear her voice -something that pissed him off to no end. And yes, he missed her. Ichigo missed Rukia. '_And I've barely been gone for one __**fucken**__ day!_' Vaguely Ichigo wandered if he should listen to messages he _knew_ Rukia had left … the damn little red light on his phone was going off like crazy. '_God, she must've tried to txt me too_.'

"Damn!"

'_Hi? Um, I know this is your message thingy and whatever but - are you on some fieldtrip thing that I am not aware of?' *sigh*_ dial-tone.  
'_Ichigo, could you please answer your phone … a-I. Idon'tknowwhereyou - where _are_ you?'_ The words were whispered, and quiet. They were clear, but there was something else. Something that made Ichigo want to go straight home right now … her voice held none of the - arrogance. None of the confidence he knew; she sounded weak and scared, and Rukia just didn't _get_ scared. It wasn't possible.

"Are you really _that_ worried?" He wandered in whispered tones. Ichigo turned to the emptiness around him and could vaguely picture Rukia sitting there next to him. Seatbelt wrapped tightly around her tiny body, shouting directions and reaching over to hit him. Oblivious to the fact that he was watching her. The thought made him smile. But his lips slowly slid into a frown as he let his mind linger on the tiny little thing controlling his closet space. Before any intended though could actually form in Ichigo's mind he had ripped up the handbreak and swung the rental around, thankful that the road was empty.

"STUPID! IDIOT - DUMBASS ICHIGO!" he screamed at himself as he sped down the abandoned road. Luckily he knew every short-cute in the surrounding area and damn it he needed them now. "What the fucken-hell were you_ thinking_? You _left_ her there!" He whispered angrily to himself as he turned sharply down some seemingly random street. He knew where he was going though, and that he wouldn't get caught going over the speed-limit. Taking streets that weren't meant for cars - going the wrong way down one-way streets, throw in a few more things that would probably make his dad laugh at him and he'd be back at his house in half an hour. He was pushing it, but that'd have to do …

*What*

Rukia was wandering around down-stairs … she wasn't exactly sure why, but everyone was gone. She felt lonely, without Ichigo to annoy there was nothing for her to do, really. So she tiptoed down the stairs, vaguely taking in Ichigo's surroundings; imagining him in his 'natural habitat.' A smile tugged at Rukia's lips and she chuckled, now picturing Ichigo as some kind of animal-thing, locked in a cage (his house) with a little annoying monkey swinging just out of reach (Isshin), throwing sticks at him and screaming obscenities. The twin jackals nipping at his heels, pestering him to play.  
Rukia gasped as the hulky imaginary lion-esk animal that was Ichigo randomly became something _very_ similar to the Chappy toy she'd forced him to buy for her.  
Plush and fuzzy … a bright orange mop of unkempt hair, a sour face. Biiiig floppy white ears, -the right one had a piercing- thumping clown-sized feet and a small little white ball of a tail that twitched when she touched it.

She paused, eye twitching and cheeks dangerously over-heated.

"BWAAAHAHAHAHA!" How she howled as the tiny little rabbit-thing in her mind started to hop away from her, all indignant cause he was being laughed at. By the time the door crashed open Rukia was in tears, clutching her belly and bent over double. She didn't even realise someone else was in the house. So fixated was she on her nonsensical musings that the sight of _real_ unkempt orange hair was lost to her.

"_What_, are you doing?" abruptly the laughter stopped. Rukia stayed bent over as she fought to catch her breath. Slowly she raised her torso and turned.  
A curious expression crossed her face and Rukia's brow furrowed dangerously. She made herself into the -shorter- female mirror of the Shinigami sub standing in front of her. "Huh?" the only reply she could give.

Ichigo burst through the door, worry evident on his face. He became slightly hesitant as he walked through the front hallway to the kitchen where he found, "Rukia? _What_, are you doing?" She had stopped her laughing the moment he spoke, and for the life of him he _needed_ to know why the HELL she was downstairs when it was obvious that he had not been the one to let her out of his room. "I asked what you were doing? Who the hell told you that it was alright to come out of my room!"

She knew he didn't _intend_ to sound like a self-righteous prick who had with a nasty complex about people touching his stuff. But he did. And he'd been gone for a whole damn day and _she'd _just gotten downstairs _now_ only to find the thing that was meant to be bringing her breakfast every goddamn morning busting through the door and asking what _she _was doing …

Isshin could hear the joint click back into place. "-tripped down the stairs huh? Must've been some hefty stairs, they seem to have bruised your face pretty bad." He was answered by a silent glare and a half-hearted blow to the jaw. Ichigo sat before him, bruised and swollen in places Isshin never thought the tiny dark-haired woman could reach. "You know, Ichigo. You are going to have to tell me her name sooner or later." The silence that followed this comment was not _nearly_ as awkward as he could make it. So Isshin continued - "I can't keep calling her 'the dark-haired tiny lady' now can I?" "What th- _how_ the hell do you know she looks like?" He'd been so taken aback by his father's little request that he forgot to remember to 'deny her existence' as he'd had planned for him to do should anyone ask about Rukia. "Well, she's not a Kuchiki by blood but she's definitely got the same _feel_ as Byakuya - I wander, could she be his wife's sister?" Ichigo was about ready to faint from the head-rush that assaulted him. It was like - brain freeze, but without the cold beverage.

How could Isshin know about someone from the Gotei 13? What the hell was going on here!?


End file.
